And throughout all this, the franchise has increased in value tremendously

The value of a franchise is based on a lot of factors.. Their stadium deal, net revenue vs debt, etc... The increased value each year speaks more to how Reinsdorf and Co run the business relative to the other MLB franchises, or other sports franchises, to take it further... It speaks very little to the product on the field, unless fans stayed away in droves, and drew less than 15K every game.